The Planted Tank Forum banner

180P build

119K views 442 replies 102 participants last post by  Pugman 
#1 ·
Hello planted people. I just sold my reef tank to help fund this project. This system will include the following. 180P ADA Aquarium. A custom stand to mimic the ADA one because they don't sell it in my area. The lighting will be three Ecotech Radion LEDs. Filtration will be two Fluval G6's with two Hydor 300w Inline heaters. I am going to use a combination of Fluvals soil and Eco Complete. I would love to get some Unzan Stone but I don't know where to get. Lights will be here next week. The stand and tank will be delivered by the end of the month. Although I'm really excited about getting this I'm not looking forward to transporting this glass. I think it's close to 400 lbs.
 
#345 ·
Green Spot algae, but looking again it could just be the picture, or it could be diatoms. The scape is near perfect, not much else to work on. :) If it is some algae it might be something interesting to try to tackle if you feel like it.

The tank looks much less blue in the newer pics. Which photos are closest to in person? Are you liking the look of the LEDs? Would you buy them again?
 
#352 ·
Well not much matured but I've learned what fits into my schedule. First of all I ended up replacing the sand with soil. I found two 2" scratches in my tank and it was either sand that was caught in my algae pad or the Kent metal pro scrapper that I was using. I only use acrylic safe pads now.
In mid August the baby tears started to lift up in sheets. The roots were very shallow. I ended up nearly tearing all of it out. What was growing on the lava rock was anchored in pretty well. It had grown so fast for me that I'd thought I'd just start over, some what. It's almost completely grown back in now. I have discovered an absolutely great product that I was using on my pond called Real Clear AK ( algae killer). One half ounce treats my 180. I was a way better alternative to excel and it was a lot safer for the fish. Those times when you just can't do a water change and you end up getting some undesirable algae this stuff knocks it out. It also works great in my ponds.
I haven't fully stocked it with fish as I am still trying to figure out what it takes to keep this thing going. I had killed a bunch of Cardinals doing too large of a water change trying to battle algae. I did end up getting 40 Pygmy Cory's. I think they have breed in there as I have some tiny ones cruising around. I'm getting the hang of it so more fish are in the near future.
From purchasing the one type of moss from Aqua Forrest it has seeded my tank with about seven other species. I will post picture for identifications soon. I am really enjoying the mosses and I have considered ditching the baby tears all together and make this more of a moss tank. They grow at a speed that's easier to maintain with my busy life style.
I'm in the process of setting back up a smaller reef tank. I just couldn't give it up:)
 
#356 ·
Some current shots. After mowing the baby tears last night I think I've decided to ditch it an replace it with some moss. In a 20 gallon it would be manageable but not this much.
 

Attachments

#358 ·
About every two weeks I have to give it a haircut with the curved scissors. This takes around 45 minutes. Then cleaning it up is the hard part. In between that little pieces are always clogging my MP10 and canister intake tubes. It's the root of all of the maintenance to this system. It grows really fast. I had to take out the Dwarf Hair Grass because of how fast it grew. The moss grows at a speed that would be easier for me to keep up with. It also has a great resale value and I thought it would be cool to farm moss for a while.
I had forgot to mention I put in 20 Assassin snails a few months back and now I have hundreds. Good thing my LFS takes them:icon_wink On the plus side I have no more "pest snails"
 
#360 ·
Amazing! where in the heck have ive been in that last year, that I miss this thread. Someday I will own one of these bad boys. You did the wise choice of getting rid of the reef, but if you ever change your mind and need to fund a reef lmk asap. Ill be folowing this thread from now on.
 
#361 ·
Pugman, ALWAYS clean top to bottom direction, NEVER side to side.

Those Kent Plastic orange scrapers, not the yellow metal ones, are what should be used. Softer acrylic pads, again, top to bottom and then the last 2-3", use the scraper with a plastic tip.

Credit cards are pretty good also, and better use for them.

A stack of 100 clean razors also is a good thing to have around, slow smooth top to bottom cleaning should never scratch glass, make sure the blade is always NEW, they are cheap, 180 ADA tanks are not. I use pure ADA AS for this reason also, does not scratch, power sand burps up and you can end up scratching things.

Snail shells also can come between the pad and the glass causing scratches.
Always apply the least amount of pressure, this will result in shallower scratches if they do occur. The pads= only for soft large area algae on glass and only the upper parts away from the soil. Plastic scrapers below that level and make sure not to get any sediment as you go down towards the line.

I scrape down all the way to the bottom. Then bend the scraper back to pull the sediment back away from the front of the glass. Then slowly lift it out. I do NOT scrape up and down in that area.

If you do these methods, you should have a nice tank for decades.
 
#362 ·
Fissidens will take over, but it'll be awhile.
The "mini Pellia" will do well on the rocks.

It'll take time, but will look nice as that grows in.

Moss: you can also use Anubias, Buce's, Crypts.

Other nice plants that are less trimming: Downoi, Starougyne, even Blyxa is less trouble, Hygro arag, etc.
 
#373 ·
Ugh....okay. I hate posting pictures that look worse then it once did. This will be a good beginning reference picture before it grows in. I still have some baby tears left in there to rip out. I spent four hours removing sheets of baby tears then sucking out the soil and replacing it with black lava rocks. I figure I can get more flow over it with the lava rock. I ended up having more of the mini pella then I originally thought. Instead of buying more I think I'll just let this grow in.
 

Attachments

#378 ·
I agree once it fills in I will be very pleased. I think one of the reasons I changed out the Baby Tears is that the tank grew in, in three weeks. all the anticipation was over too quick. I was used to buying one inch coral frags and growing them out over years to large colonies. The Mini Pella grows faster then corals but I think it will have a more satisfying affect when it's complete.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top